Before the Move

A week as turbulent as a storm passed.

The smartphone beside him lit up.

Jaeyoung checked the phone he’d left on the armrest of the sofa.

[Min-Dung] So you’re not going to the army then?

[Min-Dung] (something vaguely about being jealous)

It was a message from Mintae, who was sprawled face-down at Jaeyoung’s feet.

Jaeyoung sent back an emoji of a kid pulling an obnoxious face.

[Me] I signed an exclusive contract with hyung Saheon

Mintae, who had been staring at his phone, sucked in a sharp breath.

Curious at the two of them constantly fiddling with their phones, the other two checked their chat as well.

The unread counts disappeared, but no one said anything.

[Hae-tto] Press X to pay your respects…

[Mom] x

[Min-Dung] x

The mood turned solemn without a single spoken word.

Jaeyoung snapped for no reason.

“Still, I’m gonna make a shit ton of money!”

“Yeah, f*ck, totally not jealous at all~”

Jaeyoung’s flailing was immediately shut down by Haewoon’s knife-sharp reply.

“Hey! You’re the Guide of the only S-class Esper in South Korea! Do you know how insane that is?”

Just moments ago he’d been pressing X to pay his respects, and now Dongjun was practically spraying spit as he took Jaeyoung’s side.

Jaeyoung’s eyes lit up.

“Then you wanna do it?”

Cases of awakening after turning twenty weren’t common, but if he could, Jaeyoung would gladly hand his position over to Dongjun.

As Dongjun said, Saheon was a man who drew the attention of the entire world.

Being that man’s Guide felt like a lot of pressure.

“You crossing a line?”

Dongjun snapped, his face hardening instantly.

At the sudden shift, like spoiled sikhye gone bad, Jaeyoung pouted.

For someone who called himself a fan, Dongjun sure avoided anything that meant getting close to Saheon.

Haewoon looked at Jaeyoung with pity and patted his shoulder.

“Want ramen?”

“You don’t say no to ramen.”

Letting out a long sigh, Jaeyoung answered playfully and sprang to his feet.

The contract was already signed, and Saheon, unexpectedly, wasn’t acting overbearing.

More than anything, his friends weren’t teasing him as much as he’d feared, so it really wasn’t a problem.

“I’m on a diet, so just make enough for you guys.”

Mintae muttered gloomily from behind.

Opening the cupboard like it was his own home, Jaeyoung calculated one and a half packs per person and set six packets of ramen on the counter.

Before the new year arrived, Jaeyoung’s house was busier than ever.

Having packed only enough winter clothes to get by, Jaeyoung shook his head at the scene outside the door.

A brand-new set of bedding bought after circling a department store several times.

A set of dishes that supposedly came from somewhere overseas.

And off to one side, side dishes his mom had prepared.

“What do we do, I feel so bad for Saheon. Our kid doesn’t know how to do anything…”

Jaeyoung’s mom, Sukhee, sighed as she spoke, her downturned eyes so similar to his.

“He’s got tons of money. Don’t let him make our Jaeyoung suffer, just tell him to hire people.”

Haewoon’s mom, Dohwa, held Sukhee’s hand and patted the back of it gently.

They looked close, smiling at each other.

“But wouldn’t you feel better if he at least took a bed with him?”

This time it was Mintae’s mom.

“Really?”

“That’s not burdensome at all. It’s perfect!”

At Dohwa’s hesitation, Sukhee replied brightly.

“Still, it’s a relief he at least knows how to cook rice…”

“If he can cook rice, that’s enough. There are so many good side-dish shops these days.”

Dongjun’s mom chimed in last.

It was basically no different from living on his own, yet all the moms were gathered in the living room watching him pack.

“Mom, I’m not getting married here.”

Jaeyoung said, sweeping his gaze over all four of them.

“I heard Saheon redid the house since he was bringing someone new in.”

“Oh my.”

“Well, living alone, I guess that makes sense.”

No matter what Jaeyoung said, the moms covered their mouths, cheeks flushing, and laughed shyly.

Watching them, Jaeyoung decided that as long as they were happy, that was fine.

He set his suitcase beside the stacked boxes.

After the moms decided to go hit the sauna together and left, the friends swarmed in.

“You could’ve come earlier to help pack. You show up only when it’s time to go?”

Jaeyoung grumbled, scrunching his nose.

It was closer to whining.

It wasn’t that packing was hard.

It was that he’d be seeing his always-at-his-side friends less often now.

“We prepared a gift for you.”

Whether or not Jaeyoung felt sulky, his friends were itching to show off what they’d brought.

With a resigned shake of his head, Jaeyoung accepted the box.

“You guys are adults now, you know.”

Checking the contents, Jaeyoung looked at them like they were hopeless.

Inside was an I×on Man mask.

“Just the mask? Where’s the suit?”

If he was going to do it, he wanted to go all out.

Jaeyoung held out his empty hand like he was extorting them.

“Hey, we actually put thought into it, and this is the thanks we get?”

Haewoon reached out irritably, clearly trying to snatch it back.

Jaeyoung quickly pulled his hand away.

He took the mask out and put it on.

It fastened around the back of his head with elastic, so it wouldn’t hurt his ears even if worn for a long time, and it didn’t seem like it would fall off easily.

“Hey. You look way better.”

Seeing Jaeyoung with only his eyes and mouth visible, Haewoon cackled and mocked him.

Jaeyoung silently raised a finger.

“Aren’t we too old to be playing with this?”

Waving the mask in his hand, Jaeyoung complained.

Dongjun twisted his face and flicked Jaeyoung’s round forehead with a finger.

“You said you don’t wanna get famous.”

Only then did Jaeyoung understand their deeper intention.

“Ah.”

These days, people around the world consumed Esper dungeon raids as entertainment.

Naturally, Espers and Guides who appeared in footage gained celebrity-like fame and became idols to some.

No matter how you sliced it, the most popular was Jin Saheon, South Korea’s best.

And since awakening at eighteen, Saheon had never once had an exclusive Guide.

Rumor had it that even high-and-mighty A-class Guides who reached out were met with nothing but derision.

With an A-class, the matching rate would easily hit forty to fifty percent.

And now, Jaeyoung was becoming that exclusive Guide.

It was obvious people would try to dig up everything about him, down to his every move.

The attention felt heavy.

Exhausting.

“Your house will be private anyway. You just have to be careful on-site, right?”

“So you want me to wear this?”

Thinking he’d hang it near the bed since it was a gift, Jaeyoung frowned.

“I’m gonna get famous as a hardcore attention whore.”

Haewoon shook his head like he’d had nothing to do with the idea from the start.

“Jin Haewoon! You’re the one who said I×on Man!”

Dongjun pointed at Haewoon incredulously.

Birds of a feather.

“I was just gonna wear a cap and a mask…”

Jaeyoung muttered in a slightly hoarse voice.

He was touched by his friends’ surprisingly thoughtful gift, and his nose stung.

Soft-hearted Mintae already had reddened eyes and was sniffling.

“It’s still too early to be moved…”

Dongjun trailed off and glanced at Jaeyoung.

“What? Why are you suddenly choosing your words like that?”

Jaeyoung widened his eyes and peeked behind Dongjun.

There was a box so big it couldn’t be hidden by Dongjun’s bulky frame.

“Um, so… do you know how to guide?”

Was that really such a hard question?

Jaeyoung tilted his head.

“Of course. I’ve already guided hyung.”

He answered with a hint of pride.

His friends’ eyes shook violently.

“You… you already did it?”

“D-doesn’t it hurt?”

At their more-pained-than-him expressions, Jaeyoung’s lips twitched.

Unless you’re an Esper or a Guide, it’s hard to know much beyond what the media shows.

Dongjun, with an aunt working at the Esper–Guide Research Institute, had easier access to info, but he’d never been interested in Guides.

Just like him, his friends probably didn’t know shit.

“It doesn’t hurt. It’s not hard either. I just have to stay still and do what hyung does.”

After all, what they’d agreed on was just kissing.

Sometimes it went a bit further, touching each other, but they were still holding back.

Lately, Jaeyoung had been practicing taking the lead, but it was still just ‘practice.’

Hearing him, his friends gasped in horror.

Then they huddled together and started whispering.

“Sounds like they didn’t actually do it.”

“He only just stopped being a minor.”

“Do you think Jin Saheon would care about that?”

The only one who didn’t understand a thing was Jaeyoung.

And he didn’t realize it.

“What is it, seriously.”

Already feeling left out, Jaeyoung felt wronged.

Seeing his eyes twist, Mintae made an oops face and spoke up.

“Ahem. We mean, are you really a man now—no, wait, you are a man, right?”

Just as it seemed like he was explaining, they exchanged looks again and whispered.

The problem was, Jaeyoung could hear everything.

“…If it’s there, he’s a man.”

“This is our first time seeing a case like this. It’s confusing.”

Jaeyoung glared at them with a sulky face.

Under his sharp gaze, the friends flinched and looked back at him.

“Ahem. Anyway. That’s why it’s a gift.”

Dongjun, acting as their representative, awkwardly pushed the ramen box he’d been hiding forward.

Jaeyoung’s downturned mouth drooped even further.

“Hey…”

Sniffling, Jaeyoung spread his arms to hug them.

Only Haewoon stood still, too lazy to dodge the embarrassing show of affection.

“But share some with me too.”

It wasn’t like they were taking it back.

Jaeyoung lifted his head and shot Haewoon a look.

But the other two were also eyeing the box with quiet expectation.

“Fine. We’ll share. We’ll share.”

Jaeyoung laughed helplessly and opened the box.

And then he froze.

Boxes of different sizes and colors were crammed inside without any order.

The longer Jaeyoung stared at what was inside, the more the smile drained from his face.